Tickets
by thecanadian13
Summary: First Fanfic: Derek really wants to attend a sports convention, but because of Casey, he loses the chance to go, until tickets for the parents show up in the mail. Now Derek and Casey attend the event pretending to be a married couple  George and Nora
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hi, so this my first fanfic ever, so cut me some slack. I have read a bunch of these and wanted to throw out some new ideas. I decided that if I actually got any reviews I could continue one of the three story intros that I am gonna create. You know, which ever seems most interesting, so here goes. The first one is...**

**Tickets**

Derek reclined in his chair as he scrolled threw various windows on his laptop. Days were quite boring in the MacDonald/Venturi household since dad and Nora were out of town with Marti visiting family. Usually the house would be filled with nonstop yelling, but with Casey staying after school everyday for dance and Lizzie at soccer practice, the house was divided between the two Venturi boys.

Just as Derek was ready to call Edwin down to make him a sandwich, a funny noise rang out on his computer and Derek hesitantly switched windows to see the cause of the noise. Relieved, he realized it was only an IM from Sam, it read "Hey, D, you would never believe this but the convention center about 40 kilometers from here is hosting this sports event. Yeah! They have tickets on sale right now. I even heard players from the Leafs, Canucks and Montreal Canadians will be there. Go on right now, the radio said they only have a 100 left!"

Derek bounded out of his chair as he raced to find one of dad's credit cards that he leaves around his bedroom in the basement. As he finally returned, excitement boiling up from his chest, a loud pop pervaded the halls and rooms both upstairs and down stairs. Edwin came to the top of the stairwell, clear panic in his countenance. "Don't freak Edwin, its probably only some light bulb or something." Derek said as a sudden realization grew. He peered around the corner at the fixture in the kitchen to notice the fan slowing down and as he entered the living room, a dark, black screen had appeared on his laptop.

"Dude, the power outage just ended my game!" Edwin shouted, now a little angry.

"I don't think that was just a power outage, Ed, my laptop is fried, how many devices have you got going up there, that is caused this bad of a shortage?" Derek replied with frustration protruding through in his voice.

"Hey don't look at me, I only have one..." Edwin said just as he was cut off by a humming coming from the upstairs bathroom.

Casey was seen emerging with head phones in her ear and some curlers on half of her head as she made her way to her bedroom. Still antsy about getting the tickets, Derek rushed upstairs and into the bathroom to see six different hair appliances plugged into the wall. Without a yell or a grunt, Derek ran full speed for Casey's room and barged in without a single knock. Quickly startled, Casey paused her music and looked up innocently. "What!" She asked, half distracted by her hand running fingers through her curls.

"You idiot!" He started as his words mashed together to form one long line of meaningless insults before addressing the problem. "Your five billion hair things totally fried my laptop and caused a power shortage!"

She didn't looked fazed at all as she continued to twirl her hair, with a small grin appearing at each end of her mouth. "So?" She said politely.

"What the hell! SO? SO? This is a really big deal Casey! I need those tickets, and you totally have ruined my chances at them! And why are you even here!" Derek responded with more vigor.

Ignoring his initial questions and comments, Casey dove right into the last question. "We are here Derek because of something called S-E-X."

For a second Derek stood planted right to the spot with amazement at what Casey had actually said. _Did the keener really say sex, what! Since when is she so, normal._

Happy at her brother's astonishment, Casey continued, "Actually, I am at home because I don't have dance today. If you had payed attention at breakfast this morning, then you would know that the National Academics Honor Society is hosting a banquet tonight and it's formal attire only."

"What ever." Derek said as he began leaving her room, clearly not interested in anything else she had to say, he would drive as fast as possible over to Sam's house to see if he could borrow his computer to get the tickets.

**So that was Tickets. If continued, the plot dives into Derek having to pretend to be his dad, and Casey unwillingly pretending to be Nora, since his dad and Nora received complimentary tickets in the mail through a client of Nora's. The main problem for Derek here is that even though he can pass as George Venturi (since there is no age on the tickets) he can't get in without 'Nora' since Nora was invited. It's even trickier since Nora's ticket gives a description of height, hair color and eye color, so Derek can't just take any girl, he has to find one that matches; which is where Casey comes in.**

** Reviews, Anything?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N So, I was surprised that I actually got reviews over night. So since this is summer; time, however not plentiful, is on my side. Thank you for reading. A few comments that came out of reviews centered around Nora's client and Casey's calm behavior. To answer your question, the client won't be at the convention as you will see below and Casey didn't know she caused the power outage because she was listening to music. After Derek came in mad, she tried to piss him off more, so she obviously knows what happened now. Here is 'Tickets' cont.**

**Tickets (2)**

As Derek passed through the solid oak doorway, defeat was plastered over his face. At first he wanted to go bother Casey again, but just as he was ready to climb the narrow stairs to the second floor, he remembered that she had already left for her keener banquet.

Finally giving up and settling down, Derek fell back into his recliner and grabbed the remote to click through some channels._ That was totally Casey's fault. How could she? She probably knew what I was doing and planned the whole thing. Since when does she need six different styling tools, she is perfect the way she bloody well is! _Derek straightened up at the reaction to his last thought. Thankfully at that precise moment, Derek flipped to a recap of last week's hockey games and was totally entranced.

It wasn't till the morning that Derek woke up. Leaning over the side of the recliner, he soon realized that he had fallen asleep downstairs. For a second, Derek believed that the tickets and Casey hindering his ability to get them, was just a dream. But as the details of last night flooded into his memory, the haze of morning sleepiness began to ware off. It was odd, usually there would be sounds of feet hitting the hard wood flooring or the opening and closing of a door, but in fact, there was not.

Disappointed at the absence of Edwin, Derek slowly walked to the kitchen to arrange himself some grub. As he neared thee fridge, he noticed a few pieces of papers with big red letters taped to the refrigerator door.

"Taken Edwin and Lizzie to Toronto to join Mom and George. Be back around lunch time. Pick up the mail, bring the trash bins back inside and don't do anything stupid. -Casey"

Derek let out a groan as he reread the note. Not planning on doing any of the previously mentioned chores, Derek fixed himself some cereal and through the written on copy paper in the trash.

Unfortunately for Derek, by 10:00 am, he was bored out of his mind. All forms of communication were down and he couldn't go over to Sam's house since he was out looking for a new Leafs jersey. _How could Sam have gotten tickets? I am way more enthused about hockey than he is. _With a sigh, Derek decided to venture outside and complete one of Casey's tasks; probably the easiest and least boring.

Turning the key inside the mail slot, Derek opened the hatch to the mailbox and scooped up the mail in his right arm as he closed the box with his left. He remembered how at a younger age, mail was so intriguing to him. He always wished for a letter for him. Now, most letters were from the school, which for him was either bad or just plain boring. Right before he reached the porch, his eye recognized a familiar symbol in the corner of one of the envelopes. Accidentally dropping the other letters, he examined the paper more closely. It was in fact, the seal used for the convention center, but it was addressed to Nora! Confused, he debated on whether to open it or just forget about it. By the time he was back in the house, the letter had been carefully torn at the side and unfolded so he could read its entirety.

"Nora,

I am truly appreciative of the work you did for me last weekend. Under short notice and lower pay, you still helped a friend in need. Anyway, to show you just how much I was thankful for helping me out during this tough time, enclosed are a set of tickets to that sports convention. I know it's not much, but we won them off the radio and persuaded the station to put your names on them instead of ours. Enjoy!

Beth"

Hoping Nora did not know of this present, Derek stashed the tickets away in his jacket and shredded the envelope. He then continued to the couch and sat down to carefully marvel the small rectangular tickets in his hand as he brushed his thumb over their colorful texts and glossy sides.

It wasn't until he flipped to the 2nd ticket that he noticed major and crucial aspects of the tickets. These were not just bought online like mentioned in the letter, but won the radio. There was too, both Nora and George's names on the tickets and on Nora's there was even a physical description! Derek wasn't worried about passing as a George, but what about Nora's ticket? The excitement on Derek's face was slowly fading as he read all the details on the back.

George could not go without Nora's ticket since she was a VIP and George was listed as a guest.

The people at the gate would know they were coming and escort them in through the back.

They would receive a complimentary souvenir.

Even though the 3rd rule wasn't bad at all, the first two were. As Derek searched his mind for a possible Nora (Blue eyes, 5' 6", Brown hair), the only person matching the description that he knew of was just entering the house with a mad expression on her face and the word, "Der-ek!" Escaping through her mouth.

**Thanks for reading, next chapter should be out soon. Hopefully longer next time. This just seemed like a good ending point.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: As I promised, this chapter will be longer and probably more exciting since the first two were the intro and set-up to the main problem. Enjoy**

**Tickets cont.**

"Der-ek!" Casey screamed as she walked into the house at half past eleven. She had not only been greeted outside by two trash bins tipped over at the side of the road, but a pile of mail littering the front walkway up to their house. "I don't think you really get the concept of taking in the mail." She continued holding up the remaining mail.

Derek made a clicking noise with his mouth and sighed, "Sorry Case, you know me, too stupid to bring in mail."

Casey glared at him before ushering herself out of the living room and into the kitchen. When she returned with a glass of chocolate milk and cookies Derek was standing behind the couch looking at her weird with a sly expression on his face. He knew that she just wouldn't go to the convention, especially if she knew why.

As Casey made her way to the couch, she grew less and less interested in Derek's weird behavior and instead focused on the magazines sitting on the coffee table in front of her. It wasn't until he grabbed the milk and half eaten cookies that she spoke again.

"What do you think you're doing... Derek?" Casey asked, leaving his name hanging at the end of her question.

"Eating." He replied happily, still stalling on the ticket issue. "Listen Case... Casey." He wasn't sure where this was going as he chugged back her milk in between his sentence. "I need you to drop me off tomorrow at the convention center, you know the one about half and hour from here. Kay?"

She looked up him with skepticism in her eyes. "Like you have plans." He chuckled back to himself.

She lunged forward ready to slap him across the face, but missed as he stepped back which left him chuckling more. "Why would I drive you there if you are being such a...a...ugh! Why can't you drive yourself there?"

_Good question. Crap... _"There is no parking and I figured if you wanted the car at all, than you could, I mean, the event goes all day."

At first Casey almost responded with a big fat no, but the thought of having Derek gone all day and the Prince to herself was very pleasing. "Sure, why not." She finally replied kneeling against the back of the couch.

"We good here?" Derek asked leaning over the couch, his eyes completely on Casey.

"Uh huh." She answered back a little too mechanically, totally unaware of Derek's later intentions.

The next morning Derek was ready to go in surprisingly good time. He shoved the tickets into his leather jacket just as Casey was making her way down stairs. _Why the hell does he look tired. She better not make us late, well me late. I can' believe I am going through with this. _Derek glanced down at his other hand that was holding a ring from Casey's jewelery box and a much older ring that was his dad's from his last marriage. He had to pull off this gig well enough not to get into serious trouble. He did not want to face his dad if he got a phone call in Toronto about Derek impersonating him.

"Ready?" Casey asked with a yawn in her voice. Derek nodded and they stepped into the windy morning air.

The car ride down was far worse than imagined by Derek. She wasn't talking, he didn't know what to say. He wanted to wait until they were at the center before forcing Casey help him out. _What __happens if she totally predicts what's gonna happen? I could be stuck outside all day. You can do this Derek. Just steal the keys when she turns off the car and tell her the ramifications and if she still doesn't comply, threaten her by pretending to call Nora about her hair equipment fiasco. _

Far quicker than hoped, the car pulled up to the front entrance of the center. Derek looked outside his side car window and saw a guard standing at the only door taking tickets. He gulped before focusing his attention on the keys. _One shot. _Within a few seconds Casey had shifted her gaze to to her left view mirror and Derek took his chance lunging for the keys.

"Beeeeeep" The horn sounded as Derek horrendously discovered that he had missed the keys completely and hit the car horn smack in the center of the wheel. Casey, clearly in a dream state, came back to reality just as she whipped herself around to see what Derek had just done. In doing so, she accidentally smacked him over the back, causing him to cry out in pain as his hand slipped off the wheel and grabbed onto the front of the drivers seat for support. Both of them entering a state of awkwardness winced as their bodies froze in position, afraid of moving or causing a worse situation. Derek attempted to lift himself from the seat without laying on top of her, but every time he tried, his back shot back in pain. _Why isn't she trying to help! I can't believe this happened. Out of all the possibilities of the crap that can go wrong, I get stuck with this! Maybe if I let myself fall I can turn to over and pull myself up...What! Oh god._

After seeing a few failed attempts on Derek's part to lift himself up, Casey finally loosened up a bit and sat back trying to figure out a way to safely pull him up as he hovered over her lap, both hands clasping the small bit of seat in front of her in between her legs. Just as she was about to open the door and step out, Derek's arms gave way as he fell twisting to his side and landing on top of her_. _After a few seconds of limpness, he arched his back and pulled himself up towards the passenger seat.

"Sorry." He said as her face went scarlet red. She nodded as they both wondered what was going on before Derek's initial key retrieval event. "Do you wanna come in?" Derek asked sheepishly, ready to return to his normal blunt self. She gave him a confused expression as he went on to tell her how he got the tickets and what they had to do. When she surprisingly agreed to go with it, he appeared speechless. _This doesn't make any sense! She sees me attempt to grab the keys and I tell her all the rules and guidelines we are about to break, and she agrees to go in? That was easier than I thought. Kind of nice too... Well not nice, just easier. Yeah, definitely just easier. _

Casey pulled the car around the turn-around and drove around back. In her left pocket was her mom's ticket and on her finger was her ring that Derek had taken earlier. She didn't know exactly what she was doing, but only that everything seemed to blur. Her morning had been so dull. With staying up late thinking about what Derek's ulterior motives were about today and then the quiet trip here, his sudden outburst was a shock that sent her into another state of being. Her heart wasn't racing and she was able to focus well enough to hand the security guys her ticket as it was stamped, but her whole body was almost shivering and she could feel her pulse everywhere in her body.

When the car stopped and the keys were taken out of the ignition and pocketed, Derek seemed back to normal. Underneath his jacket poked out a navy blue and white colored t shirt with the E and the A of 'Leafs' barely visible. Casey calmed down again as she started walking, but she wasn't speaking still, just nodding. _Casey is really freaking me right now. She has this complacent facial expression and she isn't even talking to me, yet alone yelling. Oh crap, here we go._

The man with the orange shirt that read "Event Coordinator" greeted them warmly as he welcomed his so called radio contest winners inside the building. The back was so different then the front. In the main room, there were aisles upon aisles of different sports teams with their managers there publicizing their team and sometimes even a rare player signing autographs. But in the back, the atmosphere was completely different. Players and managers alike were talking about everything from family to the latest beer commercial all nonchalantly. And as Casey and Derek were moved farther into the room, the "Event Coordinator" began introducing them to people around the door.

Derek was thrilled. He began shifting his eyes from Luongo to the refreshments table and then to Kesler relaxing in the back at a table with a fellow team mate.

"This is George and Nora Venturi." The Coordinator said catching Derek and Casey off guard. The first suit in front of them shook Derek's hand as another behind them whispered something to his friend about their age. The next people that they were introduced to were a lot friendlier. They asked how their day had been so far and how long they had to drive. It wasn't until a Toronto Blue Jays player asked them about their back story, did the questions ever venture into a difficult category.

"I don't want to seem rude here, but how old are you two. I ask because my sister's friend married when she was twenty because her husband and her had been such good friends since they were in diapers. How long have you known each other?"

"Seven years." Derek cut in as Casey was ready to say three. "We met each other at a mental institution." Derek continued as Casey elbowed him in the ribs clearly feeling better now.

"I was visiting a woman that I convinced to come off the streets and get help and... George had been..." Casey almost finished off as Derek added, "delivering a package for one of the patients. She came out of the visiting room. " Derek pointed to Casey, "and she was a wreck, dropped out of high school in her last year and I offered her some help with summer classes to get her equivalent degree." Derek finished off quite happy with himself as he had been tickling Casey's side in order for her not to cut in."

"So you are..." The player started making calculations in his head. "twenty five?" The player asked a little astonished.

"Actually twenty three, I had skipped two grades in secondary school, but when I moved to a new city and had to put up with my mom's new husband's dreadful son, I started falling very much behind." Casey let in with a pained expression.

Derek's expression saddened as he quickly jumped to the parallel with his and Casey's life. _Is she no longer just making things up? Is that how she feels about me? Whatever ! It's not like I care...I think._

With Casey's last statement, the baseball player nodded his head and bid them good day as he continued past them a little taken back at Casey's small outburst. They stood there in loss of words, which was quite odd for the two of them as the Coordinator approached them again. "How is it going you two. Really great guys here, right?" He beamed before noticing their sudden frailty. "Smile." He added after squeezing them together as their arms lay limp by their sides. He gave them both a troubled look and resumed talking to another contest winner.

_What was up with the Coordinator guy all of a sudden? Is he onto us? This was so stupid! We are way too young to be a married couple. Let alone be a married couple. Well obviously Derek! Oh my gosh, he is looking over here at us weird again. Quick!_

Derek spun around grabbing Casey's hand as he waved at the weary man in the orange shirt from across the room. Casey quickly unhitched her hand from his after he had finished waving and shot him a death stare.

"What are you doing?" She asked peeved.

"I think he suspects we are imposters." Derek said under his breathe just loud enough for Casey to hear. "I was trying to look married.

Casey held back a chuckle at Derek's immaturity and rolled her eyes. "Just to let you know, Derek." She said softening at his name, "I find your lack of puritan modesty very refreshing, but I can tell you for a fact that he is not onto us" Casey replied air quoting the last two words.

Derek gave her a puzzled expression as her face began to redden again. "Why's that?" He asked eying the Coordinator again.

Barely able to escape her mouth, Casey released the words, "When you were talking to the ball player about our meeting, the Coordinator asked if we were having troubles in the bed department." Casey finished trailing off leaving the last words undecipherable.

"The what?" Derek asked still wondering what Casey was saying as Casey looked hassled at saying those words in front of her step-brother again. "Bed Department." Casey whispered.

Derek's sudden realization grew into a loud laugh as he coughed back behind the laughter, "Haha. Of course he would think you were bad in bed!"

A little too loud for just their ears, a few heads swiveled at the sound of Derek and Casey's commotion. And one nosy lady in particular spoke up.

"Since when is it always the females fault when it comes to sex?" The short, but strong willed lady asked Derek.

Derek suddenly felt very uncomfortable and nauseous. _I don't know whether it was the fact that the lady could have been listening into our full conversation or the topic at hand, but at that instant I wanted to chuck my breakfast. It was fine lying to everyone about a fake live, but now it just felt awkward. Did they not realize that she was my step sister? Okay maybe they didn't. But that is just wrong, right?_

While Derek had been daydreaming, the lady was now arguing with a man in a suit on the topic and it was branching out fast. Soon they had made it to whether it was right for a woman to show personal displays of affection if it was alright for the man to.

"So you are saying a guy can kiss his girl friend, but the girl can't initiate a kiss in public. That is complete bull shit!" The woman retorted.

"I am just saying that it looks more apropriate that way. Go on George, kiss her." The suit demanded. "You'll see. It's far less showy in public. I mean, no offense but a lady who initiates that stuff just looks like a who..." The suit continued until he was cut off by the short lady again.

"Oh! Is that so!" The lady chuckled behind hard breaths.

"Don't believe me, I will prove it." The suit replied, now focusing on Derek and Casey. "Kiss your wife and please everyone tell me how subtle and not disturbing it is to other people!"

Casey froze in her tracks and Derek hung back awkwardly unsure of his next move.

**Okay, so that was long and I guess it was the first sign of more than just sibling rivalry. I made it more awkward for Dasey than most people have done it, because I believe it's hard to see the characters committing to those feelings and actions so early on. Tell me what you think! What do you think could come out of this scheme? **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I hoped you enjoyed the last chapter and promise not to kill me for the second sentence in chapter 4. If you were unsure of Casey's motives to go with Derek, it was a complex set of emotions and an awkward time and place. Any other time she would have probably said no, but since I don't really cover her thoughts, you have to assume something is going on in her head. Anyway, here is Chapter 4.**

**Tickets cont.**

Casey froze in her tracks and Derek hung back awkwardly unsure of his next move.

_ A billion thoughts entered my mind at that moment, none of which were to kiss Casey. Sure, part of my instinctive wants was to, but that comes with any decent looking girl usually I guess. And who the hell is this guy to tell me to do something here anyway?_

After moments in thought Derek was moving to the exit. Casey now following caused turning heads and questions of curiosity. The Coordinator wasn't even able to give Derek another questionable look because Derek had quickly left the premises.

As Casey followed Derek out to the car, she was both relieved and confused at the whole day's events. Maybe it was lack of sleep and restlessness that caused the long moments of blurring and unknowing of both what to do and what to think. Trouble with their parents wasn't even on the keener's mind at the moment.

_I was surprised that it was me fleeing the room, the place where only a few days ago I had wanted to be so bad. I wanted to talk to Casey, figure out what she was thinking, why she was entering these weird mood swings all day, but none of it made sense. _

"Can I ask you something?" Derek asked with all sincerity. Casey just nodded slowly. _Probably back in another transfixed mood. _"Don't think I am being rude here Case, but what is with you today?"

Casey looked up from her gaze at her palms and faced Derek only slightly. "I don't know." She trailed off. "I haven't felt like myself most of the day. I just want to go home."

Derek nodded in compliance and continued down the 401 back to their house. _I want to talk to her. Why? Derek! What's with you? You don't need to talk to her. She did her part today in helping you meet some of your hockey heroes. Isn't that good enough? No..._

As they made their way back into the house it seemed almost foreign after the day's events. For some odd reason, Derek was longing for the feeling of his home again and the presence of his family. _I don't know wh_y, _but the thoughts and experiences I went through today, however exciting and thrilling, are not me. They aren't! Maybe later in life, maybe in just a year, I could get used to them. Maybe. For now, I want to go argue with my step-sister and dye her hair purple and glue all of her dresser drawers together and dance with Marti and ruffle Edwin's hair until it sticks up on end. Right now, I want to be comfortable. And saying or thinking of Casey in any context besides my friend or step-sister is not comfortable. I can't pose as George and Nora, I am not ready._

**Yes, it was short and I ended it there. I call it author's intuition that it had to end here. This story wasn't a happy ever after romantic ending, but a reality check. Although unclear sometimes, yes; they were both experiencing feelings for each other, but it was confusing and not glamorous at all; just a first step towards it. Two steps forward, only one step back. **

** Thanks for reading. **

**Post Script: I will probably write a happy ever after Dasey story after this, because too many of these makes me depressed. **


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